Water shelves were blown out. Plywood was scarce. And some gas stations ran out of gas.

That was the story all over Lee County on Wednesday. The good news is many places expect to continue to restock.

And that's what drove people to stand in snaking lines in the plywood aisles at The Home Depot on Skyline Boulevard in Cape Coral.

Some people sat on carts. Others made small talk. And some were even visited by loved ones who dropped off breakfast and support as they waited for supplies.

Among those waiting was Cape Coral resident Alan Anzalone.

“I got here a little bit before 7 and it’s 9:30, 10 o’clock, and we’re still waiting,” he said. “It’s going OK. We need plywood, and there isn’t any — anywhere — as far as I can tell. So I guess we’ll be here for a while if it doesn’t come in soon.”

Supply shipments were scheduled to come into the store, but as assistant manager Kathy Wendl said, “they’re coming in slowly.”

Her advice to shoppers: “Come in, be patient.”

This was echoed at Lowe’s on Pine Island Road, where empty aisle shelves showed where plywood used to be stored.

“My advice is that if you find it somewhere, buy it,” said Brittany Wagner, assistant store manager.

Although she couldn’t speak to how many people had already walked through the front doors looking for supplies, Wagner said several thousand transactions had been recorded at the store in the past two days.

People, she added, are looking for the basics: plywood, water, generators, gas cans and propane.

Customers get creative with their hurricane prep at the Lowe’s on Pine Island Road. Here, empty shelves where plywood once was stored can be seen on the left.(Photo11: News-Press photo by Pamela McCabe)

“Right now we do not have any of those supplies, and shipments show up, but we have no way of knowing what’s coming in or when,” she said.

“Be patient,” she advised. "Everything that we have is out.”

As Hurricane Irma approaches Florida, the story was much the same throughout the area.

Irfan Bojadzija and Lauren Black load plywood atop their Jeep Wednesday morning at The Home Depot in south Fort Myers.(Photo11: Casey Logan/The News-Press)

Irfan Bojadzija and Lauren Black were in the parking lot at The Home Depot in south Fort Myers, loading plywood atop their Jeep.

They waited 25 minutes for plywood and picked up a propane tank. Hurricane preparation is a unique way for the San Carlos Park couple to celebrate their first anniversary, which is Friday.

Sergio Ponce of Fort Myers Beach sits outside The Home Depot in south Fort Myers on Wednesday morning with a supply of plywood.(Photo11: Casey Logan/The News-Press)

A few minutes later, Sergio Ponce of Fort Myers Beach sat outside the store with a supply of plywood. He was in Lee County during Hurricane Charley in 2004.

“I hear this is a little more strong than Charley,” he said. “I don’t know whether to stay or leave.”

Ponce mentioned that he picked up bottled water at 7:30 a.m. at Sam’s Club.

“Yesterday we couldn’t find it at all,” he said.

A bit later, Jaime Espinoza of Immokalee loaded plywood into the bed of his truck as he awaited what could be his first hurricane.

“I’ve been looking since yesterday,” he said. “I had to get in line and wait for an hour. My family wants to get out of here, but I’m not sure right now because we don’t know which way to go.”

Jaime Espinoza of Immokalee loads plywood into the bed of his truck on Wednesday morning, outside The Home Depot in south Fort Myers.(Photo11: Casey Logan/The News-Press)

Matt Harrigan, spokesman for The Home Depot, said Wednesday afternoon that 300 truckloads of products have been shipped down to the potential “strike zone” in Florida.

Harrigan said the company’s plans remain the same from a day earlier, despite the latest forecast that has Hurricane Irma moving on a more easterly path.

“How we’re targeting stores with products, I don’t think anything has changed,” he said. “We’re just making sure all our stores in the area are prepared and that the communities have what they need to get through the storm safely. Our stores are really working around the clock right now to make sure products are available."

Customers wait in line for propane at Balgas at Katherine Street and Evans Avenue in Fort Myers on Wednesday.(Photo11: Mike Braun/The News-Press)

Balgas, a propane service, had plenty of it Wednesday morning, but a line formed as people stocked up.

Some recently restocked Publix stores in Cape Coral and Fort Myers were already out of bottled water again, but the company continues to send fresh supplies to stores.

CLOSE

Water shipment at Walmart on Immokalee Road and U.S. 41 gone in about 10 minutes.

At Tropical Hardware off U.S. 41 in Fort Myers, shift manager Donato Corvelli brought in a shipment of 30 pieces of 3-by-4-foot plywood planks. It was almost gone by 1 p.m.

"We were very limited with what we could get because of Harvey," Corvelli said. He expected another plywood shipment in the afternoon. If he could boost the stock of any one item in the store, he said it would be gas cans, which have been his most requested, sold-out item.

At DG Ace Hardware off Palm Beach Boulevard in Fort Myers, assistant manager Becky Millican said the past two days have been slammed.

“We’re short on almost everything, but we’re working on getting a shipment in,” Millican said. “We’re insanely busy. We’re hoping to get another delivery of propane to get refilled.

“I have no plywood. No D batteries. No oil lamps. No oil. We’re out of empty propane tanks, too. Every other phone call is, 'Do you have propane, plywood, flashlights, generators?'”

The store did have a few flashlights remaining and a limited supply of propane as of 11 a.m., but no generators.